Debra Winter, Garfield Golf Club’s only transgender member, is looking to cut her handicap from 34 to 25.
By Justin Robertson
DEBRA Winter feels at home. She has just clocked up two years of playing women’s golf at Garfield and is the club’s first and only transgender golfer.
“I get glares every now and then, but I have to expect that don’t I?” the 69-year-old said. “They’ve been wonderful to me. I’m very open about it and never shy away from it and always put my cards on the table.”
After her gender reassignment operation in 1997, Winter – living in Brisbane at the time – applied for some voluntary work with a group called Lifeline.
After a few weeks she decided to check on her application in person and was told: “God will come in on a white cloud and people like you will be swept away.”
Soon after that Winter sold her butcher’s shop and her house and moved to Victoria.
She spent 17 years out of the sport she loves, battling health and going through gender re-assignment, and it wasn’t until she heard about Mianne Bagger, a Danish-born transgender professional golfer, that her interest was sparked in joining up as member at Garfield Golf Club.
Bagger was the centre of a media storm back in 2003 when she played the Australian Women’s Open and tried to join the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Association, but the then commissioner said: “Our rule is you have to be born women.”
“I never knew transgender people could play golf until I heard about her,” Winter said. “Once I did, I approached the Garfield Golf Club and I have been playing there ever since.”
Now, the rules state that transgender golfers are able to play golf and Winter said when she initially inquired about joining at Garfield it took two weeks for a response as the club was waiting on the league.
She feared it was a sign she’d been rejected her but, to her surprise, she was allowed to play.
Many argued that being born a male could give her an advantage over other female competitors.
“When I first went to Garfield I met the women’s committee and their main concern was if I had an advantage over the women,” Winter said.
“It’s understandable, but really I don’t have any advantage.”
Winter recalls being treated in a rude fashion on one occasion, when being assigned to mark the cards after each hole.
One golfer refused to give her score at each hole, which frustrated her. She wrote a letter to her club and it was soon resolved.
Since signing up, apart from the odd glare and the occasional “he” reference, life on the fairway has been enjoyable and Winter credits that to the golf club and its hard work behind the scenes.
“I thought that type of inappropriate behaviour would have happened a lot more but it just hasn’t,” she said.
“The golf club has worked extremely hard to make sure my experience is an enjoyable one, and for that I’m truly grateful.”
